Frozen was the first animated movie that really empowered the female characters, changing the dynamic from the damsel in distress to bash and brave women. My eldest child fell in love with the movie the day we first played it to her. She loved it so much it played on an endless loop at our home. Ah yes. Good times. Any parent will be happy to tell you the joys of listening to “Let it go” 50 times a day.
Times have changed and she is much older now, but still hails it as her favorite movie of all time. When I told her a sequel was in the works last year, she made a commitment that her first visit to the movies would be to watch Frozen 2. Thanks to Disney SA this dream of hers was realized.
Story
The sequel picks up almost immediately where the previous movie left off and thrusts our princesses into a new adventure which entails large portions of their family’s past. In a true reflection of its predecessor, all is not what it seems.
The story is actually very interesting, even as an adult I found it very engaging. My daughter was glued in, hardly pausing to munch on the traditional popcorn and whispers. I could, however, tell, that some of the more mature themes flew over her head. I think this will be a global conundrum for most kids her age (which is 7 years by the way).
Visually improved but Fall Short in Acoustics
The animation had obviously leaped forward in miles not yards, finding exciting new ways to display Elsa’s powers. There are also subtle changes that need a closer look. One such improvement would be skin texture. This isn’t important to the target audience who just rather see a cool new song and dance scene. There is plenty of that, however, the new songs are nowhere as iconic as the ones from the original.
The songs are lyrically deeper but far from the catchy tunes that got stuck in your head as the first movie had. I suppose this comes down to trying to top oneself. The song scenes as well don’t have that certain razzmatazz like before. To take a page from my kids, the movie is fantastic but isn’t as good as the first. That is very simplified. See in many ways the sequel is far superior to the original but just doesn’t have the same heart the original had.
Verdict
There is no doubt that the movie has a few flaws and does fall short compared to the original, but that is the common faith of most sequels. A few problems aside I would still recommend watching it as a family viewing. I loved watching it with my daughter and it did allow for some fascinating conversation on our drive back home. For me, that drive home is a big part of the movie experience. Getting to have that with my daughter was one of those treasured moments.
Essentially Frozen 2 isn’t as good as the first but it is still a great movie and a definite watch. It fleshes out the two leads more and sets them in new directions. There are some tear-jerker moments. Most importantly, kids aren’t ready to “Let it Go” to this franchise yet.
